The Circus Comes To Town! An Interview with a Clown.

Tomorrow, July 9th, is a day all Angeleno circus-lovers already know, the date the legendary Ringling Brothers-Barnum & Bailey Circus comes back to the Southland, starting at the Staples Center downtown before moving on to Anaheim and Ontario. 

I sat down with one of the current stars of the new show, Kelli Argott, to discuss the new production, Legends, and ask what it's like to be a clown.

“The name of our show this year is ‘Legends,’ and we are celebrating legends of the circus," she said, "and also legends in general. So we have legends you can only imagine, like unicorns and the Pegasus, and other amazing legendary creatures.

"We also celebrate human legends, especially those who have done the kind of things you would never imagine people doing. Sort of like we do in the circus every day!”

Asked for an example, she mentioned the legendary Globe-of-Steel, in which a remarkable seven people on motorcycles defy gravity. "Or our flying trapeze, which I know you have seen before," she said, " but this time you will see four triple somersaults in a row. So we are attempting all sorts of legendary feats this year.

A native of New York State, she has been traveling with the circus – on their mythic circus train – for five full years now. “It’s been fun,” she said, “I get to travel all across the country and meet people from all over the place, which is my favorite part. I love interacting with people in the pre-show, which is an hour before each show when people can come down to the floor where we perform, and meet the performers one-on-one. It’s a great time for us clowns, the pre-show, because we get to interact with the clowns one-on-one.”

Asked where her favorite spots in America are for the circus, she said, “I really like out West. We just came from Colorado, which was beautiful, and riding the circus train across the desert, like we have the last few weeks here, is really something to see.”

A few months ago, the circus suffered an unusual and serious accident, when several acrobats fell to the floor – without a net – from the trapeze. Kelli said that all those acrobats are okay, healing from their injuries, and that those stunts are temporarily retired: 

“It takes a whole lifetime to learn those tricks, so we can’t just plug someone else it. Our hair-hanging act will not be shown while we’re in the Los Angeles area.”

“I have big yellow hair,” she said, describing her current look, “a little blue jacket and blue and white striped pants. The circus is always evolving, and I change my look. Our tours are two years long, and we go to different cities every two years. So every two years I change my look.”

Clowns in the circus audition at various places in America each year, and many audition several times before they are accepted into the fold. Not so Kelli, who got in the first time.

“I auditioned in San Francisco,” she said, “five years ago. I had gone to clown school for two years and then auditioned right after. And got in the first time.”

Performers, crew and animals alike all travel the country on the legendary circus trains, which have crisscrossed the continent for more than a century. 

“It’s my favorite part, the train,” she said. “The tracks go in places where roads don’t, so it’s great to see parts of the country a lot of people never see. You don’t even see cars or towns for long periods of time.”

She said she loves getting to be a part of the traveling menagerie of fantastic creatures, long a part of circus tradition. 

“Where else would I get to befriend six pachyderms, two kangaroos and all sorts of amazing creatures?”

Though protesters insist each year that the circus exploits and mistreats their elephants, in fact, Kelli explains, such abuse is both prohibited and impossible. 

“I think if you come to our show and watch the way our trainers interact with our animals, then you’d see it is not true, or our animals would not do the amazing things that they do. Come to our pre-show and see very close-up how the trainers interact with their animals. And we also have open-house, where you get to see where our animals are kept for the duration of their stays in certain cities.”

The Legends theme, this year, is one sure to brighten the spirits of children of all ages, especially all those who have never seen a unicorn or Pegasus up close. 

“It is beautiful,” she said, “it really brings out the beauty and grace of the animals. The kids’ faces just light up when we bring them out. It’s incredible.”    

LEGENDS Performs in the Southland 7/9-8/3/14. 

For more information visit www.ringling.com  .